Yoga as therapy

Sharon Miller Cindrich. Special to the TribuneCHICAGO TRIBUNE

When Adrienne Hamilton was going through a divorce, she found that yoga provided her with a physical outlet for the stress. As a teacher, she began doing small yoga exercises with her Head Start class during circle time, and the children responded well.

So when Hamilton was promoted to site director for Easter Seals a year later and found that financial support for mental health services at Head Start facilities was extremely limited, she began looking for an alternative way to help children deal with mental and emotional stress. Yoga seemed like a perfect solution.

Although yoga and its holistic healing properties may be the rage now, many of the families in Easter Seals' Head Start program had never been exposed to the concepts.

Some parents were even concerned that yoga was somehow connected to religion.

"Many of our families come from Latino and African-American communities and did not recognize the historical ties that yoga had to both cultures," Hamilton said. "We introduced yoga first to parents in this way, demonstrating how holistic health was actually a part of both cultures from a historic perspective." And once the parents bought into the idea, it was up to the instructor to get the kids excited about yoga.

"Initially I do a demonstration of what I can do in order to get the children to give me some Ooohs and ahhs,' " said Yirser Ra Hotep, author, lecturer, yoga master and instructor for the Easter Seals program in the West Town community. "I tell them that yoga will make them strong and smart. I tell them their parents will be proud of them."

And with all his positive encouragement, Ra Hotep, who also is a professor of stress management and wellness at DePaul University, acknowledged that kids are easy to engage and catch on quickly.

"Children like to do new and fantastic things with their bodies," he said.

One of the goals of the program is to help children utilize the relaxation techniques to minimize their stress as well as manage their behavior.

"We encourage cooperation, peaceful conflict resolution and try to use yoga as the vehicle for this," Ra Hotep said.

Through breathing exercises, slow movements and touch, students experience an awareness of their individual bodies and work on a way to center themselves in stressful situations.

"They learn that they are in control of their bodies, which is a fundamental part of behavior management for our center," said Hamilton, who also encourages parents to participate.

Liz Monjaras immediately could see the difference in her son Emmanuel.

"He really enjoys the class and is always showing me what he learned," Monjaras said of her 6-year-old. Not only is he more confident, she said, but he also seems to be able to sit quietly for long periods, sometimes doing yoga on his own.

"When he's bored, sometimes he'll just practice some yoga or teach it to his little brother," Monjaras said.

Emmanuel, who also has cerebral palsy, enjoys not only the mental health advantages of yoga but has benefited physically as well.

"Children with cerebral palsy tend to be stiff. Emmanuel can now sit with his legs crossed for a longer period of time," said Monjaras, who said she is impressed with her son's progress and thinks that yoga is a great physical activity for all kids. "Not every child likes to play sports. Yoga is fun and relaxing."

And there is no physical restriction that can exclude a child from benefiting from yoga at some level.

"The beauty of yoga is that it can be tailored to fit the individual situation and needs of the child," said Ra Hotep, who has renewed his interest in working with children because of what he believes is an unprecedented level of stress on America's young people.

"Children today are at a higher risk for stress-related illness as adults than at any other time in modern history. Stress can come from family dynamics, lack of attention or change," Ra Hotep said. "Children can become withdrawn, lose confidence and begin to act out. Yoga seems to address some of these issues."

Initial feedback from teachers and parents of the students has been very encouraging.

"Teachers report that children in particular who have speech and behavior problems are building self-esteem and gaining self-control," Hamilton said.

For more information on the yoga program at Easter Seals, call 773-276-4000.